Mom fail #5982: No Baby Book for Annie.

Every year on the kids' birthdays I pull out their baby books or the journals I write them and we look at pictures and talk about when they were babies and the cute, funny things they did and said.  I tell them how big they were when they were born, what time they were born, what some of the first things they did when they were born.  They ask when they first started walking, what their first word was, how they said certain words, who was the most active, who was the best sleeper.....they love it.  I also kept journals of each pregnancy, so I would tell them what I was craving, show them pictures of how big my tummy was and what their heart beat was at each doctor visit.

This year, for Bella and Ethan's birthdays, we pulled them out again....except there was a big boo-boo.  Annie asked, "where's mine?"  Oh CRAP.  Um.....on Facebook?  It didn't even register to me that she didn't have a baby book!!!  I have a pregnancy journal for her, but I think every year, I just show her pictures on Facebook and read her the journal I write to her.  Plus she's the baby and everyone remembers everything about her, so she's inundated with information.  It didn't matter.  She was devastated.  I told her all her baby pictures were on the computer and I even pulled up the album and showed them to her....I thought she seemed satisfied, until she brought me a little notebook with torn out pages and said, "mommy, I tore out the pages I wrote in, so we can make me a baby book."  Oh My GOSH.  EPIC FAIL.  It was the saddest thing I had ever seen!!!

So, I told her we would make her a special baby book.  I then proceeded the save all the pictures from Facebook to my computer (I didn't want to waste the time actually finding them on the computer) so I could upload them to Costco's website and have them printed.  The problem was, this happened in the throws of Bella and Ethan's birthday parties and I didn't have time to upload them, pick them up and go buy a baby book.  This was something I wanted to do with her.....and every day, my little sweetheart would ask me, "is it time to go to Costco yet to get my pictures?".  I've never felt worse as a mother.  Seriously.  I felt like I completely forgot about her, and that's the last thing I've ever wanted one of my children to feel.  I felt so guilty.

Finally working on her baby book!!

When this happened, my friend was here and she's the oldest in her family.  She gave me this look of, "oh crap! That sucks, but it's kinda funny!"  because we all have heard of the 3rd child syndrome or the forgotten child.  It's like it's a running joke in the world.  When you have your first child, you do everything.  You record everything. Every little detail.  Bella has 2 baby books, a scrapbook, a baby calendar, and a journal.  Then the second child comes a long.  You're busier....so there's a little less done.  Ethan only has 2 baby books, one of them isn't fully filled out. (don't ask me why the kids have 2 books? I don't even know.)  And then the 3rd child arrives.....it's typically a bit chaotic.  You no longer have enough arms or bodies to control everyone.  You are out numbered.  So, as we all know, Annie doesn't have a baby book.

It was fun looking at baby pictures. :)

In my defense, when Bella and Ethan were born, the digital age was just coming about and film was still prevalent, so I had to have physical pictures of them.  By the time Annie was born, everything was online.  The only reason I have printed pictures of her is because I want to frame them.  Oh, well.  Let this be a lesson to those of you who haven't reached this point in parenting yet.....don't let it happen!!  And if you're there, go buy a baby book now or have one made online before they realize they don't have one! :)

We finally sat down together and worked on her baby book.  She was in heaven.  We talked about everything....every little detail.  And the best part was that she actually decorated her baby book....with glitter.  What's anything to Annie without glitter?  She cut out all her own photos and glued them in place....picked out the ones she wanted to use, even.  So, this turned out more special that I could have even imagined.  It really was her baby book, and it's also a moment that was redeemed and now she will never forget.